Anne Villemoes

VP Group CommunicationsDanish Crown

Anne Villemoes does not shy away from controversy. As head of communications for Danish Crown, an international food producer that has attracted the ire of animal lovers, Villemoes chose to confront what had previously been a taboo subject, an approach she has explained in speeches at the Global Public Relations Summit and elsewhere that she entitled—with characteristic bluntness—“Managing Reputation When You Kill for a Living.”

In similarly provocative vein, discussing her company’s forays into social media during The Holmes Report’s ThinkTank Live conference in Prague, she asked: “Can You Be Friends [on Facebook] with a Sausage?” Combining good humor with a willingness to passionately defend her company’s core business, she has spent the last seven years changing the reputation of one of the largest companies in Denmark.

Prior to that she worked as special advisor to the Minister for Food, Agriculture & Fisheries and as head of press for the Danish Consumer Council. She has a background as a journalist in TV and for the largest national newspaper in Denmark.